Dreamscape | The Toyah Willcox Fansite

Toyah guests on the Late Show with Keith Middleton tonight. The three-hour programme airs across various BBC radio stations (Shropshire, WM, Stoke, Hereford & Worcester, Coventry & Warwickshire).

BBC Radio (Various): Late Show with Keith Middleton: Saturday 2nd March: 10pm
70s Rock: Toyah and The Blockheads. Norman Watt-Roy (from The Blockheads) and Toyah join Keith for a ’70s Rock Extravaganza’. Is there a 70s rock track you haven’t heard for a while? Let Keith Know and he will do his best to play it.

Toyah has guested on Keith’s show a few times previously. I’m not sure whether this is a new appearance or a previous guest recording being re-aired.

• Listen to the show online as it airs, or via BBC iPlayer post-broadcast. (Available for one week only)

Toyah is included in the rundown of guests for next week on Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff, at the station’s website.

Comics Shazia Mirza and Steve Furst will be on the panel next week. They’ll be joined by Richie Neville from pop group Five on Monday, actress Rebecca Wheatley on Tuesday, Hollyoaks star Daniella Westbrook on Wednesday, singer Toyah Willcox on Thursday and the legendary John Barrowman on Friday. Tune in for Britain’s brightest daytime show every weekday at 9.15am.

The Wright Stuff: Channel 5: Thursday 7th March: 9.15am
Lively magazine show in which Matthew Wright and guests discuss the topical issues of the day.

It’s the penultimate Imaginary Toyah Singles update. Four more covers that don’t, or ever did, exist, though luckily for us all the great songs are real: ‘Haunted’ (from The Vow 12″), ‘Baptised in Fire’ (from the Rebel Run 12″), ‘Heal Ourselves’ (from In The Court Of The Crimson Queen) and another cover for ‘Elocution Lesson’ (from Anthem). View full size versions of these and many others by clicking below.

Another new interview with Toyah, by EADT24, in which she discusses an event from 1979 that she last spoke about in her autobiography, ‘Living Out Loud’, in 2000.

Regent-bound Toyah on how she ended up in the middle of the street in just her underwear

Toyah Willcox has been hormonal for as long as she can remember. Taken to see The Sound of Music for the seventh time by her even more hormonal mother in the hope it would make her more lady-like, the then eight-year-old just wanted to rebel against the townsfolk below.

As a terrible teen her parents asked her to invite her elusive friends round for tea; imagine their horror when 30 members of the local chapter of Hells Angels roared round the corner. When she was 21, a very bad case of PMS and 15 Babychams led to a massive brawl during which she broke her record company boss’ nose.

• Continue reading at EADT24. Also at the Stowmarket Mercury.

Welcome to March! The first updates have been added to In The Fairground: Andrew York’s new website. There are various additions, including photos and info added to the “Egyptology” page, a new Links section and an Updates page. Visit the Fairground this weekend…

A new interview with Toyah, published today by the Yorkshire Post.

She was an eighties punk pop star who had 13 top 40 singles and recorded 20 albums, she’s written two books, appeared in more than 40 plays, starred in 10 feature films and presented TV programmes as diverse as The Good Sex Guide, Watchdog and Songs Of Praise, but Toyah Willcox is still very much in demand.

She will be taking to the stage again next month in a tour of Hormonal Housewives which takes in Leeds, Halifax, York and Wakefield: “It’s a sketch show with three acts and we play ourselves in between,” explains Toyah. “It’s Loose Women-style talk, with women talking about how things really are. We don’t shy away from issues like PMS, pregnancy and labour.”

• Continue reading at the Yorkshire Post.

• Ramblings is now available to listen to a BBC iPlayer for the next week, and is also downloadable as a podcast for the next 30 days. Toyah talks to, and walks with, Clare Balding in Croome Par, Worcestershire, chatting about her health, childhood and family life, how her career began and future plans. A great interview. It’s also repeated on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday at 6am.

• Lots of great feedback on Twitter for Ramblings: “Always love Ramblings but esp enjoying today’s with the resilient Toyah. Inspiring for us who are also recovering from injury“, “Just heard lovely Toyah on Ramblings with claire Balding” and “Just listened to Clare Balding taking to Toyah Willcox on Ramblings – fabulous interview” are just a few of the comments.

• Billboard: Simon Darlow, Songwriter for Grace Jones, Shirley Bassey, Named Chairman of U.K. Rights Org BASCA: Darlow, 52, has a long list of song credits including co-writing Grace Jones’ joint highest-charting U.K. single, 1985’s “Slave to the Rhythm.” He has also written for a diverse range of artists including Dame Shirley Bassey, Sir Cliff Richard and pop and rock acts such as Toyah and Dollar. (Also reported by Complete Music Update)

• What’s On: Toyah is interviewed in the latest issue of ‘What’s On’, the magazine that is available with various newspapers in the Kent area: Former 80s punk princess Toyah Willcox talks to What’s On about her new role as a Hormonal Housewife.

• Stroke Association: Toyah is once again playing a Black Tie Ball, helping raise vital funds for the Stroke Association. The event takes place on Friday 21st June at The New Wheatsheaf Conf + Banqueting centre, Castleford. (Tickets: £45pp, liz.williams@stroke.org.uk)

Toyah’s edition of Ramblings airs on BBC Radio 4 this afternoon at 3pm. It’s also repeated at 6am on Saturday morning.

Ramblings: BBC Radio 4: Thu 28th February: 3.00pm
Ramblings: BBC Radio 4: Sat 2nd March: 6.00am
Toyah Willcox. Clare Balding is walking for self-improvement. Actress and singer Toyah Willcox takes Clare for a walk in rural Worcestershire.

For Toyah, who has had problems with her joints, including a hip replacement, walking is the perfect exercise. She says it helps her to keep her weight down and remain active. Episode 4 of 6.

The programme will also be available at BBC iPlayer and as a podcast after it airs today.

• Browse all of our Ramblings news here. A huge thank you to bbc.co.uk for including Dreamscape in their Related Links for Toyah’s Ramblings episode.

A great photo of The Humans, taken in Portland, Maine By Paul Nicholson (Toyah’s Sound Engineer for over 20 years) when they toured America in September 2011. The Humans’ third album is mixed, mastered and should hopefully be available “late Spring/early Summer”. Click below to see the full version. (Thanks to Paul for the photo)

Toyah guested on BFBS Radio on Monday morning on the Simeon Courtie Show. The short interview was pre-recorded last Friday.

Toyah talks insomnia and acupuncture. She also recalls touring with Vampires Rock and the forthcoming Hormonal Housewives.

It’s available for the next few days at the BFBS website to listen to again.

• Listen directly here or visit the Listen Again page, scroll down to Simeon Courtie’s section and click on Monday: Part 4 – Toyah’s interview begins approximately 20 minutes into the recording and it lasts for around five minutes.

• The Hormonal Housewives are now into their third week of rehearsals. There are now only six days until the first show at The Churchill Theatre, Bromley. Info here.

• A new Creative Team page has been added, and updated, at the Official Hormonal Housewives website.

• Toyah has tweeted a couple of updates about rehearsals over the last couple of days: “Starting 2 get 1st night nerves! Just a week 2 go. Rehearsed bizarrest dance I’ve ever done“, and “ran ACT 1, 4 1st time today. It’s really good fun, but wait 4 my madonna dance end of act 2! Its the weirdest thing!”

• The Cresset What’s On: The Show Everyone’s Talking About: A great page dedicated to Hormonal Housewives, which plays at The Cresset Theatre, Peterborough on 12th March.

• Term Times Family Magazine: Win A Pair Of Tickets To See Hormonal Housewives: To win “Like” the Term Times Facebook page and share this post.

• Toyah has also been discussing her involvement with the Hormonal Housewives tour in various recent interviews, including Woman’s Weekly, Birmingham Mail and This is Sussex.

A new Region 1 DVD box set of Maigret: The Complete Collection is released by Acorn Media this week.

The 4-DVD set features all 12 episodes, starring Michael Gambon in the title role, which aired in 1992 and ’93, with English subtitles, plus an 8-page booklet featuring articles on Georges Simenon, Jules Maigret, and the television series.

Based on Georges Simenon’s classic detective novels! “Gambon is terrific.” – The Times (U.K.). Emmy nominee Michael Gambon (Harry Potter, The Singing Detective) is Jules Maigret, the “wonderfully entertaining sleuth” (Austin American-Statesman) at the heart of novelist Georges Simenon’s beloved detective series.

The new collection includes the eighth epsiode of the series in which Toyah had a guest role:

Maigret and the Hotel Majestic – A rich American (Michael Shannon) wife strangled in hotel kitchen. A prostitute (Toyah Willcox) attacks Maigret. Michael J. Jackson and John Kavanagh are guest stars.

Another two “new” Tom Leon Toyah tracks/mixes were uploaded to house-mixes.com over the weekend: Pop Star – A Dream Within A Dream (Tom Leon Full Vocal Ultra Long Version 2013), and mARTian cowBOY (Tom Leon Extended Version 2013).

As with Tom’s other mixes, these are unofficial and for “private and promotional use only”.  Great use of Andrew’s Toyah art too ;)

• View all of our news posts on Tom Leon and his Toyah remixes here (I’ve updated the links and all are now working again). Visit Tom’s Official Website.

• As mentioned a couple of times last week, Toyah guested on In Conversation with Steve Allen on LBC yesterday morning. The half-hour programme is available to listen to as a podcast from the radio station’s website. (NB. There is a charge to download LBCs podcasts – full info at their website)

• A great retro Toyah article/interview from 1980, Sunday Times: A Life In The Day Of…, was added to The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive over the weekend.

• Toyah is supporting “Acupuncture Awareness Week”, which began today and runs until 3rd March. There have already been a number of recent Toyah interviews and articles focusing on this, lots of tweets too over the last few days linking to her video interview, and no doubt there will be more over the next seven days.

• King’s Heath Walk Of Fame: Toyah Willcox’s star is due to go outside this shop (Maurice Robinson Sports) sometime in March 2013 (the part of the pavement that belongs to the shop, not to the council). View photo at flickr.

Toyah details her daily diet in the latest issue of ‘Natural Health’ magazine.

There is no doubt that actress and singer Toyah Willcox is clean living…

Breakfast: I have the same breakfast every day; a bowl of bran flakes with lactose-free milk and an Actimel and Activa yoghurt.

Lunch: For lunch I have homemade fresh vegetable soup with freshly made wholemeal bread and olives on the side. Or, roast salmon with steamed broccoli and steamed carrots.

Read more…

Toyah is interviewed in this week’s issue of ‘Woman’s Weekly’ magazine.

Having A Cup Of Tea With Singer And Actress Toyah Willcox

Who would you most like to have a cup of tea with?
David Bowie, Helen Mirren and Judi Dench – all British legends.

You’re about to appear in the play Hormonal Housewives. What can we expect?
It’s an all-out comedy about three women. It’s one of those plays where you read the script and you keep thinking, ‘Oh yes, I’ve been through that!’. The madness that comes through PMT is all captured in an evening. It’s very funny, light-hearted and well-observed.

Read more…

Another new live date for Toyah. She is playing the Upton Music Festival, taking place over the August Bank Holiday weekend (23rd-25th).

The festival, now in its fourth year, will have two stages and numerous events and activites. The festival site is located at Fish Meadow, Upton upon Severn, Worcestershire. Other bands playing include Slade, China Crisis, Bad Manners, The Troggs and The Lambrettas.

• View further information at the festival website. View our updates on other live Toyah dates for 2013 here. (Please note that none of these have been officially confirmed yet, please double check before buying tickets)

• Worcester News: Upton Music Festival developing links with the community: The festival itself runs from Friday to Sunday, August 23-25 and the likes of Slade, Toyah Willcox, The Wurzels and Bad Manners have already been announced across two stages.

A few more covers for Imaginary Toyah Singles: ‘Elocution Lesson’ (from Anthem), ‘She’ (from The Blue Meaning), ‘Street Addict’ (b-side of Thunder In The Mountains) and ‘Space Between The Sounds’ (from Minx). View full size versions of these and many others by clicking below.

Two of Toyah’s contemporaries are currently touring the UK; Hazel O’Connor and Lene Lovich, and this is the latter’s first tour here with a full band for around 20 years.

Lene is playing UK dates until May, with the first taking place in Leicester last weekend, and is also included in the Rebellion Festival line-up in August. There are also other European dates.

Hazel is on the road with the Breaking Glass Barefoot Tour, as well as a couple of other non-tour dates, through until June. Hazel will also be playing the Rebellion Festival.

‘Breaking Glass Barefoot’ is also the name of Hazel’s new autobiography, and Toyah receives a mention in the book.

• Visit the Official Lene Lovich website and the Official Hazel O’Connor website for more info on the tours. (Thanks to Stephen Bennett Troake)

Check out Jelly at Facebook.

Steve Bray’s band have new gigs, new music and much more coming in 2013. As well as a steadily growing fanbase who appreciate great tunes.

There are regular updates to the Facebook page and loads of great band photos.

• Go on… everyone loves Jelly. (veggie jelly for me ;)) Browse our previous Jelly news posts here.

A great new interview with Toyah, from yesterday’s Birmingham Mail.

Toyah Willcox leaves behind her Midland home to go on tour with Hormonal Housewives

Don’t mess with punk princess Toyah Willcox when she is feeling hormonal. Marion McMullen finds out about terrible teens, strange food cravings and crying over Love Story.

“I’ve got 67 one-night stands for the next three months,” chuckles Toyah Willcox naughtily.
 
But there’s no need to worry about any X-rated hanky panky. Toyah is about to hit the road and leave behind her Midland home to tour the country with comedy show Hormonal Housewives.
 
“As far as I can remember I have always been hormonal. And I can remember being in my pram,” she says

• Continue reading at the Birmingham Mail.